abcnovels
Chapter 461
Chapter 461
Chapter 461
Having finished the round of greetings, I returned to the castle after having a meal with my mother and was once again in the throne room.
Four people were gathered.
The Emperor, the Chancellor, the Brave Duke, and me.
I was admittedly out of place, but there was a common plot among these four.
It was an investigation into the death of the Crown Prince.
"Well, let's hear the details."
Father broke the silence.
The reason was...
I had thoroughly investigated the Crown Prince's death, but I was unable to obtain any information.
"I conducted a thorough investigation from the vassal nation's side, but there were no particular suspicious points. There was no sign of planning. At the time, the vassal nation explained it as a noble's rampage, and that was correct. A noble near the border heard about the Crown Prince's inspection and targeted his head. That's the conclusion of the investigation."
"What a troublesome situation we find ourselves in."
The Brave Duke, who had directly requested me to conduct the investigation, murmured. Originally, this investigation was supposed to attract attention to me.
But, I found nothing.
That makes it meaningless.
"Even after a thorough investigation, no one moved. Doesn't that mean there's nothing to worry about being discovered?"
"So the death of the Crown Prince was really just an unlucky incident? That Wilhelm was done in by such a simple misfortune?"
"Circumstantial evidence suggests so."
Franz responds to Father's words.
Excluding emotions, there is no other choice but to decide that.
But...
"I have also interrogated the frontier nobles, but there was no useful information. It's been four years, and there's no sign of any evidence."
"So there's also the possibility that it's too late to investigate now...?"
The Brave Duke rested his chin on his hand and fell deep into thought.
His speculation had fallen through.
However, there are good miscalculations as well as bad ones.
"Nevertheless, there has been no movement from Prince Eric. Prince Leonard and Prince Arnold had separated, presenting an opportunity for individual defeat and yet nothing was done. I have been watching Prince Eric over the past year, and there has been no suspicious activity. Isn't he just unaffected by the change, unlike Princess Zandra and Prince Gordon?"
"There might be such a possibility, but there might not be. It doesn't clear the suspicion. If the children are becoming strange due to influence from the Queen, then the only ones who are fine now would be Leonard and Arnold."
Father shook his head with a grim face.
The Brave Duke agreed with Father's words.
"If there's even a little doubt, it's dangerous to trust Eric. The problem isn't there this time. There were two reasons why I asked Al to investigate. One is to divert attention from Leo as a decoy. The other is, if the Crown Prince was assassinated, we need to know the method. The battle for the throne has become a choice between the two factions. Whichever wins... if the successor is assassinated again, the empire will collapse."
At the Bravery Duke's words, Father and the Chancellor fell silent.
That's right.
I can still attract attention to myself.
However, if I don't explore the cause of the Crown Prince's death, I can't prepare countermeasures. Whether it was an investigation from the empire's side or from the vassal nation's side, there was nothing unnatural about the Crown Prince's death.
It was truly an unfortunate death.
That possibility is high.
But, if it was an assassination disguised as an unfortunate death...
I can't stop the next one.
"Because there's a chance he's changed, I can't trust my older brother, Eric. If there's a possibility of assassination, I can't just brush off the Crown Prince's death as bad luck. Of course, I had a wizard accompany the investigation. But there was nothing strange. Even though it's been four years, the lack of traces... can only be thought of as a method beyond human knowledge."
"I agree. Around the same time, those beyond human comprehension started appearing on the continent."
"...Demons."
Father muttered with a weary look. If demons were involved in the Crown Prince's death, it would be quite a deep conspiracy. There would be regret if he, as the Emperor, had noticed. He may think that he let the Crown Prince die so easily.
But he can't afford to be down all the time.
"If demons get involved, anything is possible..."
The Chancellor murmured.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Thinking about it would be a waste.
They fight with innate abilities.
These abilities are different from magic.
I know this because I've actually fought with demons. If it's an ability suited for assassination, they could assassinate the Crown Prince without any evidence.
The lack of evidence despite the investigation can be explained by that.
"Even the curse through the Queen could be considered the work of demons. I'm bothered that they operate differently than the demons of five hundred years ago."
The Brave Duke, with a thoughtful look, said so.
Demons fundamentally despise humans. Of course, they have the power to do so.
It's questionable whether they would take years to undermine.
"Thinking about it won't yield answers. The fact is, there's no evidence of the Crown Prince's assassination from the vassal nation. Therefore, let's decide what to do from here. Do we continue with the plan to attract attention to Prince Arnold?"
If the other party is human, they could also pay attention to me.
But, if the other party is a demon, it's meaningless. If their target is being too annoying, they can kill both of them. If they could assassinate the Crown Prince without any evidence, they could probably do that too.
"It's meaningless, isn't it?"
"Al will simply be exposed to danger."
Hearing the words of the Brave Lord and me, my father nods. Then...
"There is one policy. The Adventurer's Guild is still searching for the remnants of the devils. They do not believe they have been annihilated. The Empire will support this and cooperate fully. If being passive doesn't work, we will go on the offensive. We will expel the devils from the continent."
My father has made this policy.
It may not seem to change much from what it was before.
If there are devils, annihilate them. Cooperate with the guild.
That's as it has always been.
But the resolve is different.
"If necessary, I will go out. I do not mind using the 'Imperial Sword'."
Quietly, the Brave, Chancellor, and I bowed our heads.
The emperor going to the battlefield certainly carries significant meaning.
But in this case, that's not what matters.
The royal family's magic tools like the imperial flag are essentially a dangerous heritage from the age of ancient magic.
They contract with blood and activate. Dangerous things.
But the Imperial Sword is different.
It was developed by a past emperor known as the Inventive Emperor.
That emperor was a rare genius who built the Sword Emperor's Castle. Especially when it came to the creation of magical tools, no one surpassed him. He improved the heritage from the age of ancient magic that was in the treasury, and created a weapon of destruction for the emperor's exclusive use.
Due to its dangerous nature, it has been continuously sealed like the holy sword.
My father has clearly stated that he would use it.
His determination to not tolerate the existence of devils in this continent was there.
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